Category Archives: TV Reviews

Oh, my god! That was some of the most fun I had watching an hour of television in a while. It was campy, silly, and FUN (Did I mention that already?). All the things that I am about right now and I am here for it!

Elseworlds is the annual Arrowverse cross-over event on the CW. In the first crossover, Supergirl was introduced to the Arrowverse. Supergirl, which launched on CBS, takes place in a separate world from Barry, Oliver, and the Legends gang. That crossover was definitely good, but the focus was on introductions and the fallout from Flashpoint (a crisis on the Flash which had repercussions throughout the Arrowverse).

The second crossover was a bit lighter. The gang from two Earths and a time machine all came together to attend Barry and Iris’ wedding. (Side note: On the show, traveling to go to ANOTHER EARTH to attend a wedding seemed easier and cheaper than attending a destination wedding on THIS Earth. Seriously…wtf?) The personal drama was a little less angsty, however, angst is part of the deal on CW shows. I’m pretty sure it’s in the contract. But, rightfully, all the teams were more focused on stopping Nazis from taking over the planet. (If only our electorate was so proactive…)

But this third crossover was a hoot and a holler. Of course, they had a little angst (again… contract!), but they embraced the camp and even had a Smallville throwback which made me scream with laughter and clap my hands. The energy of this episode was positively off the charts and you can tell the cast was just having a good time. Even granite-faced Stephen Amell (And this is not an insult. The entire man is granite, that’s a huge part of his appeal) couldn’t hide the sparkle in his eye as his played Olivier-as-Barry. The actors were just having a good time and that manifested in a dynamic episode full of action and joy.

Now some of this might diminish some as the group heads to Gotham City in tonight’s episode (which I’ll watch tomorrow). If you’re familiar with the DC Universe you know Gotham is not a place for joy or fun. In fact, the place can make the Arrow of Season six seem like Disneyland. But it’s still exciting as this is when Ruby Rose as Kathy Kane makes her debut and we get to see what her show is all about. I’ve been hearing good buzz, so I hope it works out. I’ll definitely find out tomorrow night.

Okay, folks. It’s been a minute, a minute and a half, really, but that’s life.

While the month of September was a deluge of health challenges, the month of October was a ton of personal ones – and a vacation. I may write about the last 90 or so days of my life, or I may not. But, right now, I want to talk about the show Manifest.

I am excited because I just saw the seventh episode and it was one of the best episodes of the season. As I stated in my initial review, I’m always a sucker for an out-of-time/ fantasy story and Manifest delivered. Up until this point, I was pleasantly entertained and somewhat intrigued by the mystery. I tend to be very loyal to television shows. Once I start watching one, I keep doing so unless it pisses me off – royally. At the moment, I can only think of a handful of shows that have that possess that dubious distinction; for example, the last season of The 4400 and Sleepy Hollow (Seriously, why would they do Abby that way!?), and the last two seasons of Heroes (from the early Aughts). So as long the Manifest surfed the waves of mild entertainment, I was likely going to stick with it.

Well, apparently, that was not good enough for the writers because last night’s episode raised the bar!

Not to get too spoilery (Is that a word? I’ve decided it is), but the mystery went from interesting to compelling. This is more than Early Edition – (does anyone remember that show?), 4400-esque mystery of the week scenarios. Yes, that is still the format of the show, but it has become more. The last two episodes have really emphasized the connection among the passengers and what it all means. No longer are these passengers unfortunate (maybe) singularities dealing with the aftermath of missing for 5 ½ years. Now these people are a part of something bigger in a way that’s more concrete than I’ve seen in similar shows. And the people around them are being sucked into their world so much that they are almost as much passengers of MA 828 as the people on the actual plane. The thing I am most excited about is the character arc of Deputy Director Vance, head of the investigation into what happened to flight MA 828. Again, not to be too spoilery, but the pivot of this character not only gives him depth, his transformation gives gravitas to Ben’s efforts to understand what happened to him and the other passengers, and ups the suspense factor by several notches. And even this character’s pivot may not be as straightforward as we might think. Sure, Vance might be [BEEEEEEEEEEEP] this time, but who’s to say he won’t pivot again or pirouette or grand jetè even? The dude’s NSA, let’s not put anything past him.

When I wrote my initial review over a month ago, I had questions as to whether this show had the fuel to maintain its flight. Well, at the seventh episode mark, this vehicle seemed to have refueled and I’m excited to see where it goes next.

[Yes, I skipped a week. Sorry! To make it up, please see this recap I wrote for Manifest]

April 7, 2013

That’s the date 191 people boarded Montego Air 8-2-8 from Jamaica to New York. It landed November 4, 2018. For those on board, only a few hours passed – both mentally and physically. For the rest of the world, including those closest to the passengers, it’s been five and a half years.